Oh my god. I finally got my strength back, and now I'm ending this whole ordeal with this kind of scene?
Potion, bring a potion—now!
No, but the person's airway is blocked, so...
Tsk!
The road of this planet behind feels warm today.
Hmm.
Of all things, it's the precious lungs that got injured, leaving unable to do anything. At this rate, there's a 90% chance I'll pass out within five seconds.
I'm worried.
Still, I had already put several safeguards in place on my body. Even if I end up getting carried off to Earth's space age like this, it honestly wouldn't matter much.
Soon after, I lost consciousness.
...
...
...
...When I opened my eyes again, I was greeted by the familiar sight of a white ceiling.
This is a hospital.
Of course. Naturally, a patient who just brushed past death would be brought here. But the magic power I've been sensing from the side for a while now... it doesn't feel normal at all...
Heuk!
Gryeo-ssi!
He's awake.
Nurse, over here!
Please bring the doctor!
Flash.
I lifted my monolid eyelids and finally confird the scene. This was a hospital room filled with unfamiliar white tones—an entirely new kind of ward. And beside the bed stood several familiar faces, lined up side by side.
If I were to list the hunters by rank, it would be Jung Haeseong, Seo Esther, and Ahn Yoonseung.
They're all high-level personnel, but they've been uselessly guarding their positions until now.
Since it would've been too much for every hunter present at the scene to show up, it seems only a few high-ranking ones familiar with the patient were selected to visit under the pretense of a hospital call.
I assessed the situation and gently lifted my upper body to sit up. But the mont I did, the hunters standing nearby all burst into speech at once.
H, huh! Please don't get up!
Are you coming to your senses?
Hunter Kim, please calm down for now. We've taken care of most of the aftermath, and this is a dical center run by a religious foundation that Esther-ssi regularly supports. You're completely safe now.
Then, having confird the patient's regaining consciousness, what's the next scene to co?
How predictable.
Roughly speaking, the guardians who had been standing by start making a fuss. The dical staff rush over like it's a state of ergency. They even resort to using all kinds of cursed equipnt just to check the Awakened one's blood pressure (though seriously, why do they always insist on asuring that at the drop of a hat?). And so on.
This is annoying.
The doctor who rushed in checks my condition. anwhile, the other three Hunters sat huddled quietly on the long fabric sofa in the corner of the room.
Hmm.
Of course, the expert opinion that followed was—as you can see.
Well, for now, there doesn't seem to be... any major issues.
I guess so.
As for the leg and head injuries others were worried about, the doctor had just confird the patient was perfectly fine—and yet, for so reason, the Hunters on the sofa continued to show signs of anxiety, breaking into cold sweat or clenching their teeth so slightly they clicked.
What is it?
I couldn't hold back my curiosity and asked a question.
By the way, why are they like that?
Yes?
Could it be that they're the ones with trauma or sothing? From what I can see, those people over there look like they should be the ones getting checked in right now.
But the mont I said that, sothing strange happened. An unusual reaction could be observed right away.
Ah, that's...
The doctor started to say sothing but abruptly shut his mouth in an unnatural way. The earthling, wiping sweat off his nose and adjusting glasses that threatened to slip, hurriedly wrapped up the conversation. It was obvious he was in a rush.
Ahem, hmm-hmm. Anyway, it looks like the patient's external recovery has gone well. So please get so rest for now, and I'll be back around the end of visiting hours to give you so further instructions and information.
Hmm?
Hurriedly!
I watched the doctor's retreating figure as he left the room, wondering to myself what was up with him.
H, Hunter Kim Gryeo...
Ahaha. We, well, I'm really glad the potion worked so well.
Hyung-nim, we were seriously worried...
But the reason behind this puzzlent turned out to be surprisingly simple.
Ah! But I just can't keep quiet about it like this. The person involved has the right to know anyway, right?
Clap!
With both hands neatly clasped, the head of the Korea Magic Tower Guild—who had been holding back her words so awkwardly that her mouth was practically twitching— suddenly exploded. And what that violet-haired figure said next turned out to be even more powerful than her action.
Hunter Kim Gryeo, please don't be shocked—just listen. As soon as you feel even a little better, you need to undergo a full dical examination right away.
Y, yes?
Y, you... it's your lungs. They suspect non-small cell lung cancer. So when the doctor cos back, they'll probably suggest doing a biopsy...
No, why does that say things you?
Calm down and tell in detail.
After calming them down and piecing their accounts together, I found out that when I suddenly collapsed, coughing up blood of unknown cause, the Hunters panicked and rushed to run a full set of premium dical tests at the facility—all without even getting my consent.
And the so-called premium examination this hospital refers to is a full-body CT scan and other screenings, taking advantage of the fact that Awakened ones suffer minimal harm from radiation to thoroughly inspect their organs from multiple angles...
So of course they ended up finding my tumor again in the lung scan!
Esther went on to explain that they overheard the information when the doctor, reviewing the scan results alongside a dical technician, casually muttered, 'Huh? Isn't this cancer?' In short, this was also a case of the flustered doctor from earlier accidentally leaking the patient's private dical information.
Hey, you jerk—ever heard of dical ethics?!
However, it would be funny to go into such detail when you co from a planet with the weakest sense of ethics.
It's okay.
I explained the truth without thinking.
There's no need to spend extra money on more tests. It's definitely a tumor, and I already know about it. But the thing is, this is actually...
Correction, I was going to explain it at first.
What?!
It's a tumor...
Just a mont.
Yes?
But no sooner had I braced myself to reveal this soul's remarkable abilities than those very light expressions I just uttered sohow beca the fuses for all the bombs.
Ahhhhh!
Startled.
One of the group suddenly shouted. Seo Esther, as if realizing sothing, trembled violently with a pale face.
The opening salvo was her scream, but the first words were actually uttered by this side.
So this was the reason all along...
Jung Haeseong. The young man with hair full of gray strands spoke with a look of shock.
Was this the reason you've been subtly delaying forming a regular team with all this ti!
What?
When an Awakener suffers from an autoimmune disease or cancer, the news always makes a huge deal out of it—do you really think we wouldn't know what that ans?
Wait a second, sothing's—
You even admitted—while we were eating budae-jjigae not long ago—that you were thinking of retiring because your condition was getting worse!
That's... tsk. No, that was...
I have a bad feeling about this. Sothing's going terribly wrong.
Because you've been sick... you were sick. Ugh! Then could it be that even when you got seriously injured on the job, you still seed fine all because of that...?
Mumbling.
I was trying to piece together sothing to explain to these Earthlings, but Haeseong didn't wait—he fired off his shock like a rapid-fire barrage.
If you were already regularly taking painkillers, then it'd make sense you wouldn't feel much from minor injuries... R, right. We have people suffering from chronic pain are sotis prescribed opioid painkillers. I never imagined you'd be one of them, Hunter...!
What do you an, that's true? It's not!
How could I have been so clueless? Oh my goodness. Now that I think about it, Hunter Kim would always take a water bottle with him to his room after eating with at ho.
For the record, that led part was just because the bottled water in Jung Ha-seong's fridge happened to taste especially good—so I took one to rinse my mouth, that's all. It's a misunderstanding. I absolutely never took the water to wash down ds.
Damn it!
But before I could properly explain the situation, yet another problem arose.
That.
Suddenly, to make matters worse, the violet-haired woman standing beside the hero let out a trembling, goat-like voice and said this. She poured fuel on the fire.
A, as expected...... that's what it was all along.
No, what's wrong with you now, Hunter Esther?!
You vaguely told I got worse while working, so I thought it was so kind of dungeon curse... but to think it was an ordinary illness all along. It's as from overwork or stress, maybe?
Flutter.
Esther, true to her role as a curse specialist, is a strong individual known for her ntal resilience. But now, uncharacteristically, she began to tremble and tear up in shock.
Now everything makes sense. Honestly, I couldn't believe it at first, so I sorted looked it up on my phone earlier... and it said that symptoms of lung cancer include coughing up blood and a hoarse voice.
To that Earthling, everything must've seed to line up perfectly with scenes from the past.
Even if we overlook the voice, Gryeo-ssi, yes, you, you often vomit. Blood. I an.
The group is shocked again.
So that's why you said there was no need for [holy water] or any other ans. Of course—once soone Awakens, 1 here's no hope left for soone in Kim Gryeo's condition!
Hunter Esther, may I ask sothing? Are you saying that Hunter Kim has been coughing up blood on a regular basis?
That's not it—
Yes, that's right. I saw it with my own eyes. When Gryeo-ssi and I went into a dungeon together, he definitely coughed up bloody phlegm... sob sob. You shouldn't be hiding things like this from us!
Oh my. There's not a single damn person here actually listening to .
Next, Seo Esther started feeding distorted information to Jung Haeseong. I was overwheld by the urge to magically silence the curse sorcerer's mouth. But I couldn't do it. Just minutes ago, my lungs had been shredded into about thirty pieces, and even an Archmage had to take absolute rest today.
And so, the situation quickly turned into catastrophe.
H, Hyung-nim... Hyung-nim was in that condition...?
Unlike the two S-ranks, Ahn Yoonseung had never witnessed any related evidence, so he was several tis more shocked.
I've never in my life seen soone wipe out a dungeon while just standing still. But the fact that soone with powers that strong had never once properly used their skills until now...?
Isn't that clear evidence that sothing was wrong with the Awakened's condition?
Then all those dungeon clears... Hyung-nim managed them while being sick the whole ti...?
I fell silent in sheer disbelief, only to watch the suspicions spiral further and further out of control. If this kept up, Ahn Yoonseung wouldn't just lose color in his face—he'd probably collapse from anemia any minute now. So I tried to raise my voice and scold them, to tell them to stop overreacting—but then...
Clatter, bang!
It was at that exact mont. Soone suddenly burst into the hospital room, panting and out of breath.
Gryeo-ya!
Soon, a familiar vibration reached my ears—it was none other than the voice of Asia's first Enchanter. Which ant one thing, that Ms. Do Seohyeong had co to the hospital room.
What's going on?
For a mont, I was caught up in that dumb thought—but the sight of Seohyeong drenched in sweat as she rushed in quickly brought back to my senses.
Ah. Right. What do you an 'what's going on?' Of course it was —I'm the reason.
Hesitantly.
In this hospital room were no less than three Association-certified S-rank Hunters, with even an A-rank mixed in like a garnish—so it was only natural that the newcor took a deep breath upon entering. Having steeled her resolve, the D-rank Awakened walked in, her short boots clicking with each step, and spoke. Normally, when a Hunter's only D-rank reported on TV, several hours to even days have already passed since the incident—but this ti...
Hey, Kim Gryeo! The announcer just said in a live breaking news report that you collapsed while coughing up blood, and I was seriously debating whether to co or not—but I just couldn't sit still, so here I am! So what's going on? Is the surgery all done or what?
How did you even find out which hospital it was?
Glance.
The young-looking woman wearing round glasses continued.
I heard you regained consciousness, but I still needed to see it with my own eyes to feel sowhat reassured... but...
Did I bother you?
Seohyeong's voice shrank, on the verge of faltering under the overwhelming presence of the high-ranking Hunters. At that, the surrounding Awakened hurriedly suppressed their aura or equipped gear to reduce their pressure, out of consideration for the weaker one among them.
Oh. T, thank you.
No, it's nothing.
Excuse , but how do you know Hyung-nim?
Oh! I'm Kim Gryeo's old classmate. We went to the sa middle school.
Ahhh, your face looked so familiar—I almost thought you were a Hunter for a second...
Haha. You must have seen that in an old comrcial.
Now that the introductions were more or less done between strangers, Gu Seohyeong turned her gaze from Ahn Yoonseung and spoke in a near whisper.
But the atmosphere is a bit strange. Should I co back later?
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